Which 6.5 Long Action

[bw34]

Trying to decide on which 6.5 long action to build. It's going to be a long range hunting rifle. I do reload. Kinda looking at the 6.5 x 284 or 6.5-06ai. Any suggestions?

[Oxn316]

6.5x55ai would be nice and have great lupua brass cheap.

[Robinhood]

6.5-06 or 264 magnum

[GaCop]

6.5x55ai would be nice and have great lapua brass cheap. +1 for the Sweed AI! :thumb::tea:........

[bw34]

I'll have to look into that one. Do you know how it compares to the others?

[WinnieTheBoom]

For as much love as the 6.5-06 gets on this site, there are a lot of people that disregard the .260 rem and .260 AI.

The PJ260 will push 140s to 2,900 fps easy.
The 260 AI will push 140s over 3,000 fps easy.
Both will be more than adequate for what you're wanting.

Also consider that both the 6.5x284 and 6.5-06 AI are going to be barrel burners to say the least.

[yobuck]

For (hunting) guns, you will shoot it more working up loads than you will for many years to follow.
Buy a 308 to practice with and save the barrel burner for hunting and a few rounds each year to
confirm zero. Consider this also, while the 6.5 cartridges are very good, 3000 fps with a 160+ gr bullet
is still better than with a 140 gr bullet for hunting. And a 7mm rem mag would give you that without
being the barrel burner the hot 6.5s would be. It would also give you more options to use both lighter and
heavier bullets up to 190 grains. Use at minimum a 26" barrel for best results. A 28" would offer the option
of later rechambering to a larger 7mm cartridge should you desire more horsepower.

[bw34]

For as much love as the 6.5-06 gets on this site, there are a lot of people that disregard the .260 rem and .260 AI.

The PJ260 will push 140s to 2,900 fps easy.
The 260 AI will push 140s over 3,000 fps easy.
Both will be more than adequate for what you're wanting.

Also consider that both the 6.5x284 and 6.5-06 AI are going to be barrel burners to say the least.

How will a .260 or .260ai feed in a long action?

[bw34]

For (hunting) guns, you will shoot it more working up loads than you will for many years to follow.
Buy a 308 to practice with and save the barrel burner for hunting and a few rounds each year to
confirm zero. Consider this also, while the 6.5 cartridges are very good, 3000 fps with a 160+ gr bullet
is still better than with a 140 gr bullet for hunting. And a 7mm rem mag would give you that without
being the barrel burner the hot 6.5s would be. It would also give you more options to use both lighter and
heavier bullets up to 190 grains. Use at minimum a 26" barrel for best results. A 28" would offer the option
of later rechambering to a larger 7mm cartridge should you desire more horsepower.

You bring up some good points. I've been going back and forth between building a gun more for practice and targets or strictly for hunting. This will be my first build but not my first gun. I'm 40 now and have grown up with them:).

I am a believer in shot placement over biggest bullet to an extent. But a 7mm is somethings I'd strongly consider.

[schnyd112]

I you like 6.5 bullets in a short action, 7mm bullets in a long action are just that much better. .280, .284, 7mm rem mag are just a few that will do everything you ever ask and be way easier on barrels than the 6.5's. You can shoot 195g all the way down to I think 120gr. High bc's, heavy weight, suited for anything that walks this country.

[WinnieTheBoom]

How will a .260 or .260ai feed in a long action?

Most would argue that they're better suited for LAs so that you don't run into seating depth constraints. With the correct mag you shouldn't have any problems.

[bw34]

I'm going to look harder at the 7mm before I make a decision. Any thoughts on the 7 stw?

Will the .260ai work in the factory la magazine?

[psharon97]

My opinion, is find a great load out of your rifle, then chrono the load to help develop the drop charts. Extreme muzzle velocity is not my end goal, but a great shooting load that is easier on the barrel. If I have to adjust the scope a few clicks, then that's what I'm going to have to do.

That being said, I do love the 7mm rem mag. It's very accurate, brass is plentiful, you have a much wider support for cartridges, but the biggest advantage over the other 6.5 cartridges out there, is you will always be able to find ammo for the rem mag out of just about every shooting store. I cannot say that about any of the 6.5s. I can get those, but those tend to be specialty cartridges. I reload too, but if I do plan on hunting anywhere out of my area and I forget my ammo, it's nice to run to the store, buy some ammo, then sight in my rifle.

[Robinhood]

For as much love as the 6.5-06 gets on this site, there are a lot of people that disregard the .260 rem and .260 AI.

The PJ260 will push 140s to 2,900 fps easy.
The 260 AI will push 140s over 3,000 fps easy.
Both will be more than adequate for what you're wanting.

Also consider that both the 6.5x284 and 6.5-06 AI are going to be barrel burners to say the least.

Blah Blah Blah



For (hunting) guns, you will shoot it more working up loads than you will for many years to follow.
Buy a 308 to practice with and save the barrel burner for hunting and a few rounds each year to
confirm zero. Consider this also, while the 6.5 cartridges are very good, 3000 fps with a 160+ gr bullet
is still better than with a 140 gr bullet for hunting. And a 7mm rem mag would give you that without
being the barrel burner the hot 6.5s would be. It would also give you more options to use both lighter and
heavier bullets up to 190 grains. Use at minimum a 26" barrel for best results. A 28" would offer the option
of later rechambering to a larger 7mm cartridge should you desire more horsepower.

Yep

[WinnieTheBoom]

Blah Blah Blah

See what I mean? :rofl:

[yobuck]

I'm going to look harder at the 7mm before I make a decision. Any thoughts on the 7 stw?

Will the .260ai work in the factory la magazine?

The 7mm stw (shooting times westerner) started life as a wildcat cartridge. It is the 8 mm mag case necked down to 7mm.
Balisticly speaking it has about identicle performance as the 300 Weatherby case necked down to 7mm and known as the
7x300 Weatherby. I have been using the 7x300 Wby for about 45 years for long range hunting. I have a 9 twist barrel
which will stabilize the 180 gr bullets. Ive not tried the newer heavier ones but I doubt the twist in my gun would work well.
Weve killed more deer over many years with the 7x300 than all others we have combined. Meaning, most of the deer weve shot
have been less than 1000 yds. I find the 162 gr Hornady bullets still to be the best choice for me. With those I have seen velocities close to 3500 fps on cooler days. I don't recommend using loads that hot however. For hunting my load is about 3350 fps with the 162 gr hornady.
That is about 350fps faster than you will see from a 7 rem mag with the same bullet. The barrel one one of my 2 7x300s was originaly a 7 rem mag on a 40x rem rifle.
I had killed a deer at about 850 yds with a good hit, but the following year the gun was a 7x300 wby.
There is no substitute for mass coupled with velocity for long range hunting, and the longer the distance the more that applies.
The 7mm ultramag has a slight velocity advantage over both the others mentioned. Another very good large 7mm is the 284 Baer.
It uses the 340 weatherby case necked to 7mm. And there is also the newer 260 Nosler.

[WinnieTheBoom]

You're opening a different can of worms with 7mm rounds.

- 7mm Rem Mag
- 7mm WSM
- 7mm SAUM
- 7mm STW
- 7mm Practical (.300wm necked down to 7mm)
- 7mm Sherman
- 7mm Dakota
- 7mm-300 Wby

I mean you have SO many options if that's the route you so choose. Most of them are going to be barrel burners, some more so than others. If you're looking for those kinds of velocities out of 170+ weight projectiles, something, somewhere is going to have to give... And that usually ends up being the barrel.

That being said, the performance, especially for long range hunting, with any of those 7mms is going to be hard to beat. The .260ai should fit in your standard LA's but it won't hold a match to some of those 7's for what you're wanting to do... Look up 'LongRange's build thread as I believe that he has done some testing with the .260ai, that should answer some of the questions that you have about the bigger badder 6.5s.

[bw34]

Great info! Thanks. I need to do some soul searching on what I want:). I believe a 6.5 can do everything I need at the present time with less recoil. But the 7mm opens up more possibilities.

[yobuck]

Actually Winnie the performance of the 7mms isn't hard to beat. We have been very fortunate over the years
to have had very good bullets brought to market.
If you would go back to the 60s, the 6.5x300 Weatherby was the go to cartridge for serious long range hunters of which there were plenty in PA even then.
The reason was simply because the (only) good bullet was then the 139 gr Norma match bullet. (illeagle for use in PA due to its metal jacket)
But as soon as Hornady introduced the .284 162 gr match bullet that all changed. As good bullets began to appear in other calibers, guns were built for them. The 30x378 cartridge is a prime example, as is more recently the 338 cartridges.
Opinions on all this are actually meaningless. We all have them for whatever our reasons, but fact is that's all they are, opinions.
Anybody thinking their going to make a 7mm a better gun than a 30 cal is simply wrong, and that isn't an opinion, but simply a fact.
As for barrel burning, that will of coarse vary from individual to individual depending on how much they shoot their gun.
For what its worth, I'm still using a 30" Hart barrel chambered for 7x300 Wby since the early 70s. Its been used strictly for hunting and early on some rock shooting.
About 5 years ago I had Bruce Baer scope the barrel. (Any fool can buy a bore scope, but it takes an educated fool
to know what he's looking at lol). He said it still looked pretty good and so long as it still shot decent keep using it. I doubt there are 800 rounds thru that barrel in all these years.
Early on it was my only gun, but within a couple years I had recognized its limitations for best results. That brought about a 30x378 with heavier bullets which is now history also in favor of a 338.
They are all barrel burners, but that's the cost of admission if you want to play. But there is no need to be shooting these things just to keep yourself tuned up. A smaller gun like a 260 or a 308 is all you need for that.

[WinnieTheBoom]

I'd agree on certain things but it's not simply 7mm vs. .30 cal. There are too many variations thereof to make it that easy, and application is going to have A LOT to do with what's considered 'most effective.' There are plenty of 7mms that will outperform .30 cals in certain situations, and vice versa. In a vacuum, yes, .30 cals are superior to 7mms because they are larger diameter (and often heavier), nothing else.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) it's not quite as simple as that in the world of shooting, but I can tell you that there are plenty of guys that would prefer the higher velocity/flatter trajectory of a 7mm vs. .30 cal. It really just comes down to personal preference. 'Superior performance' lies in the eyes of the beholder, so whether you think a 7mm can or can't perform to the level of a .30 cal really just depends.